The ABCs of the Martial Arts Business: Understanding The Basics Makes All The Difference, Part 3

As I come to the end of my description of the business model I call the ABCs of martial arts, allow me to review the first two parts. The A stands for Attitude-as an instructor, you must develop an attitude of professionalism toward the operation of your school. The B represents Belief-instructors must believe in themselves, their business systems and their contributions to society. The third and final part of the ABC model is the letter C, which is Conviction. Webster defines con­viction as: "firm be­lief." My definition of conviction, as it applies to martial arts instructors, is: "a declaration, and more im­portantly, a demonstration of strongly-held beliefs." It is always easy to say you believe in certain principles, but it is much harder to live them. I have seen instructors, who claim to teach self-discipline to their students, stand­ing outside before class smoking ciga­rettes. Other instructors smoke in their offices between classes, and, believe it or not, I know an instructor who drinks beer and smokes during his classes! I know it seems crazy, but it's true. I'm not here to make moral judgments about adult indulgences, if they're legal. I do feel very strongly, however, that when a citizen (a non-martial arts stu­dent) sees a martial artist drinking or smoking in uniform, it sends a very nega­tive message to the general public-a message that we have very little self-dis­cipline, even though we claim to teach it. There are rules of conduct that apply to virtually every type of uniform, and a martial arts uniform should be no differ­ent. If you must smoke, then drive around the block between classes. If you can't leave between classes because you're too busy, then stop smoking. If you have a beer after class at the local tavern, then change your clothes first. I once knew an instructor who would drive to the bar in street clothes and change into his uniform in his car before entering the bar because he thought it impressed women.

 "It is always easy to say you believe in certain principles, but it is much harder to live them."

One of the most telling tales of your convictions is the way you dress. During the early days of my school, I wore sweat pants and T-shirts during the day and uniforms at night. I was fortunate that one of my fitness-center mem­bers was a very successful business­man, who told me that I must start dressing for success. I asked him why I should wear any other clothes than my martial arts attire, and he replied very plainly, "Because no one will ever take you seriously as a businessperson unless you dress like one." He was right. I started to wear slacks and a nice shirt to work everyday, and my fortunes changed. I was invited to join service organizations, such as the Lions Club, and was suddenly on the Who's Who list of up-and-coming young businesspeople in my town. Conviction is unstoppable. Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame had conviction, and it kept him going, although more than 1,000 restaurants refused him before the first one tried his now famous recipe. Ross Perot had conviction when he launched his software company, Electronic Data Solutions (EDS). Seventy-seven companies rejected Perot before one of them gave him an opportunity. Today he's a billionaire. You'll immediately know an instruc­tor who has conviction to teach his/ her art by the passion he or she expresses when talking about it. You notice I said, "con­viction for teaching his/her art," not just conviction for the art itself. It's not enough to be in love with your art, you must be in love with teaching your art to be successful in this business. I've known instruc­tors who didn't like people, much less teaching, but opened a school anyway because they thought they could make a few extra bucks. I've never known an instructor who didn't love teach­ing that succeeded in the martial arts busi­ness. They simply lacked the conviction to spread the positive word about their classes. Finally, a professional martial arts in­structor should be the embodiment of suc­cess in America, a reflection of everything good and admirable in society. From the way you dress to the language you use, or allow to be used in your school, you are an advertisement for your con­victions. Are you sending the right messages? Rick Bell is a marketing specialist and veteran martial arts school owner, and is considered one of the leading experts on enrollment in the industry today.